Editing Anna Sewell (section)

==='' Black Beauty''===
While living in Old Catton, Sewell wrote the manuscript of ''Black Beauty'' – in the period between 1871 and 1877.<ref name=":2" />  During this time her health was declining; she was often so weak that she was confined to her bed. Writing was a challenge. She dictated the text to her mother and from 1876 began to write on slips of paper which her mother then transcribed.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />

The book is considered to be one of the first English novels to be written from the perspective of an animal, in this case a horse. Although it is considered a children's classic, Sewell originally wrote it for those who worked with horses. She said "a special aim was to induce kindness, sympathy, and an understanding treatment of horses".<ref>''Victorian fiction and the cult of the horse'' by Gina M. Dorré. p. 95. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. (2006). {{ISBN|0-7546-5515-6}}.</ref> In many respects the book can be read as a guide to horse husbandry, stable management and humane training practices for colts.<ref name=":2" /> It is considered to have had an effect on reducing cruelty to horses; for example, the use of [[Overcheck|bearing reins]], which are particularly painful for a horse, was one of the practices highlighted in the novel. In the years after the book's publication, they eventually fell out of favour.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />

Sewell sold the novel to Norwich publisher [[Jarrolds]] on 24 November 1877, when she was 57 years old.<ref name=":2" /> She received a single payment of £40 (£3,456 or US$4,630 in 2017) and the book was published the same year.<ref name=":3" />